Pediatric Gastroenterology

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Better Diet, Lower Mortality

Nutrition science is hampered by the inability to randomize people into various treatment approaches. Thus, when we see that some individuals who, for example, eat more fish, we are unable to conclude that the difference in their outcome is related to their diet or related to other factors that we cannot control. It could be that individuals who eat fish may exercise more, have more money, smoke less or have less stress.

That being said, we can find associations that may be meaningful. Into this mix, another study (M Sotos-Prieto et al. NEJM 2017; 377: 143-53) find that a better diet quality is associated with lower total and cause-specific mortality.

“A 20-percentile increase in diet-quality scores was associated with an 8 to 17% reduction in mortality”

“Worsening diet quality over 12 years was associated with an increase in mortality of 6 to 12%.”

“Taken together, our findings provide support for the recommendations of the 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee that it is not necessary to conform to a single diet plan to achieve healthy eating patterns.”

“Common food groups in each score that contributed most to improvements were whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and fish or n-3 fatty acids.”

Like most nutrition studies, this one has limitations. Strengths of this particular study include the prospective design, large sample sizes, repeated assessments of diet/lifestyle, multiple diet assessments, and high rates of followup.

My take: There is no doubt that diet quality is associated with improved longevity. Better diets are highly likely to be the reason why many people live longer.